So What is Up With This Thing?

114 SP 2 (Unfinished model)
     Is this an SPG? No. Is it a new heavy tank? No. Is it a clan wars reward tank? How many of those do they need to have anyway? No, this is the new TD everyone has been talking about recently the 114 SP 2. It is a Chinese BC 155 58 combined with a Borrasque and knockoff Russian bias. (Minus the clip) Why Wargaming felt the need for a mini FV4005 I do not know.

It has a fully traversable turret with up to 135mm of armor in some places. So it already has a huge niche as a mini-FV4005 because that is WAY thicker than 14mm and will not get penned by most HE rounds. The 75mm on the side is not exactly hot garbage either because nothing except a Couch-Launcher or Donqeror GC is going to overmatch that. In terms of damage, it is subpar for a 6 inch gun (152mm). Dealing around 650 instead of the customary 700.

Mobility wise it goes a rather mediocre 45 km/h, or 50 with a turbo. Mediocre does not seem like the right word until you consider the fact it is protected by 75mm of frontal hull armor. The BC 155 58 on the other hand, reaches speeds of 62 or 65 km/h while it has to carry a 155mm gun with a three clip autoloader! However it gets an absolutely absurd 15 and a half horsepower per ton. With that kind of horsepower per ton, I would not be surprised if it came with AMAZING ground resistance values, but we simply don’t know that for sure just yet.

 

I expect this thing to play a lot like a Skorpion. It will be consistently nimble, decent damage, (but nothing too ridiculous) good view range, but paper-thin armor in some places. It doesn’t feel like this playstyle has ever previously been an option at tier X. I feel like this is NOT a super powerful uber good tank that you will need to pick up to have an edge. Rather, this tank will be a playstyle expansion for the most popular tier in the game. I can’t wait to see how people play this in cw and I sincerely hope reading this has had a positive impact on your day.

16 thoughts on “So What is Up With This Thing?

  1. Well written review, thanks. Not too sure what to think of this thing, though.

  2. It seems like its non competitive, but a different bit of fun to take out of the garage from time to time, for a battle.

    Unfortunately for veteran players, taking a tank like this out from time to time can range anywhere from months to years, completely forgetting you even have one.

    Put your hand up if you have many tanks from all tiers that are very good, but still never get played.

    I do. I run premium premium account (WG AND WoT premium accounts YAY for the extra cost added by WG to separate WOWS and WoT subscriptions), have all the premium tanks under the sun, yet pick 1 or 2 favourites to be forever chasing credit farming.

    All the while, spending a fuck ton of money on the game. Yet forever farming, AND needing to use credit boosters. Yet I’m totally frugal with things like food and large consumables…never use them.

    Based on all that, this tank is a pass, unless I see it getting the magikal terrain resistance or Stalinium armour that we see some (most) communist tanks getting.

    1. Personally I don’t have all of the tech tree tanks, and I have not a single one of the “Technical Engineer” achievements. But yeah, totally, the majority of my tanks haven’t seen the sun in a looooong time, I am too busy getting wrapped up in on-track missions.

    1. If this was the case we would have likely seen leaks of other turreted Chinese TDs and WG would have announced a planned Chinese TD line already. I mean from research > Development > Testing > Release for a new tank line is roughly 4 to 6 months and WG normally announces planned tank lines at the start of the year. Currently only the Italian heavy line is confirmed with supposedly a brit wheelie line and I think a new Czech line planned for sometime in the future.

      1. Yeah but at the same time an unfinished model of the Rinoceronte was released at least a couple weeks before we saw anything about the rest of the branch. Yeah sure we had seen their announcement the previous year about Italian Heavies being a thing, but geez, that thing looked like some kind of medium lets be real. Still, the branch wasn’t a huge shock to anyone in particular but the model of the crown of the branch was still released well ahead of indications of anything else.

  3. The playstyle you’re describing is exactly what the Grille 15 is meant for. I’m really surprised nobody mentioned that before.

    Additionally, the 15cm guns family have a ‘customary alpha’, as you put it, of 750. I have no idea where you got the 700 from, but that sounds hella odd to me.

    Got more things to point out about the article, but I’m sure I’ll only get shat on for it again, so I’ll leave it to this. TAP, next time you bring in a new author, make sure they hold at least some basic knowledge about the game. Or at least get someone like that to proofread these. So many mistakes in this article…come on

    1. Yes, in reflection 700 does not seem as right as 750 does. I was pondering the last time I got hit by an E-100 but dang, he did a decent low roll on that one! Mostly I wanted to address part of this comment in particular: “Got more things to point out about the article, but I’m sure I’ll only get shat on for it again, so I’ll leave it to this.” It upsets me deeply to hear that your objections have been met with salt in the past, and I want to make it clear that this does not reflect my personal style of responding to comments. Feedback of any kind should not be responded to with being salty and rude, that is just not right.

      However - and point taken on the 750 damage btw, the many, as you see them, mistakes, that are in my article are for the most part not mistakes. I often use slang or colloquial language to make it easy to read and understand, and often use my sense of humor to convey my opinion and add flavour to the article. (the flavor part I try to make come first) I admit that I did some guesswork with how fast the turbocharger can get you up to.

      Lastly, I disagree partly with the point you brought up about the Grille 15. 20-35mm of frontal turret protection is very insubstantial protection against HE, which contrasts with the 135mm (statistics are not final) of frontal turret armor the 114 SP 2 has, which I am certain even some rounds of HESH will struggle to do the full damage to. Then there is the fact that the 114 SP 2 has 31.29 degrees per second hull traverse, almost 10 more per second than the Grille's 23.78. (unless I am reading the stats wrong and it's supposed to be 25.03) The Grille is faster than the 114 SP 2 in a straight line, but it seems more than likely Wargaming will want to capitalise on the unique niche that I described, in which case the terrain resistance is going to be absolutely epic. The terrain resistance is the main feature that, for me, will make the 114 SP 2 more of an opportunistic mid range sniper than a patient one that sits as far back as is practical.

      Anyways I hope reading this reply has had a positive impact on your day and I would like to hear more of your feedback. Hell, I even might want you to edit some of my articles if you are up for it!

  4. T10 + Type 5 hybrid! There would be no problem with a 180mm or 203mm gun on it! Object 268v5 is the standard turret TD, there is no better, he is the perfect!

  5. this will be an opener for a new Russian TD tank line – SU 122 54, k91PT and obj 268 v5 for sure!

    1. I can’t do anything with your reply when I am not even sure what it is you don’t like about it. Honestly this is just salt, not constructive feedback. But, please, by all means, expand on exactly why this article does not please you.

      1. This is nothing more than a glorified forum post. An opinion piece from someone that very clearly does not have a solid understanding of the game.

        “It is a Chinese BC 155 58 combined with a Borrasque and knockoff Russian bias.” What kind of idiotic statement is this? How is it a Chinese BC 155 58? Because it has a turret and some mobility? If so, would that not make the already terrible Bourrasque comparison completely redundant?

        “The 75mm on the side is not exactly hot garbage either because nothing except a Couch-Launcher or Donqeror GC is going to overmatch that.” Sorry bud, but a Conqueror GC isn’t going to be overmatching it for reasons I shouldn’t have to explain.

        “I can’t wait to see how people play this in cw” Nobody is going to be playing this vehicle in CW, at least no one worth a damn.

        I have not even mentioned your attempts at humour that fall so flat I visibly winced. You also quite obviously are a dilettante when it comes to writing, hence the “glorified forum post” comment. This supposed “article” has an exceedingly amateur feel to it, even compared to other articles on this website. A journalist, you are not.

        1. So your issue appears to be my writing style not what I actually put in it. I can’t help you with the writing style because in this case you are the exception not the rule, regardless of the fact that your points are indeed valid. However I can clear up some of the comparisons for you and try to make better ones in the future. This tank resembles a BC 155 58 and that’s where the comparison comes from, it does, also have a fully traversable turret. The base view range is exactly the same as that on the Bourrasque, but admittedly that comparison is hard to see!

          I did think it was important to point out that the largest gun in the game can't overmatch the armor though, as, they very clearly can on an FV4005 or Grille 15, which is an important difference. My article contains plenty of colloquial language and slang to make it easy to read, and, yes, I am well aware of the drawbacks of this writing style. However, this is the one part of your response that, while noted, I am not going to stop including colloquial language and slang as this is the only complaint I have received in a long time. While it is a valid complaint that I agree with it is not a commonplace one.

          Anyways thank you so much for getting back to me, your feedback is welcomed and will be taken into consideration. I genuinely hope reading my response had a positive impact on your day, and I will remember to be more careful with my comparisons next time.

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